Real talk from real landowners. Ask questions, share stories, learn from people who've been there.
I made this mistake on my first serious offer. The seller had a septic feasibility study from four years prior showing the land passed. I trusted it completely. My agent said it was fine, the price wa...
I spent two years before my legal battle believing that a county groundwater availability letter meant I had real protection. It does not. Those letters describe conditions at the time of issuance — t...
I used to think heirs property was only a problem for the families holding it — messy titles, partition sale risks, no access to USDA programs. What changed my mind was watching a motivated buyer lose...
Bought a 160-acre parcel in 2003 thinking I was expanding my wheat ground. The listing showed clean rectangular boundaries. County tax map matched. What nobody told me — and what I failed to verify — ...
I bought a 40-acre parcel in the Bitterroot Valley eight years ago partly because a creek cuts through the lower third of it. What I didn't verify before closing was whether a recorded fishing access ...
I bought my twelve acres partly based on a glowing soil test. Sandy loam, decent organic matter, good pH. I thought I'd done my homework. What I hadn't done was visit the property after a significant ...
Before I coordinated land trust stewardship work, I believed buying land with solid boundaries and a clean inspection was enough. Then I spent three seasons watching autumn olive and bush honeysuckle ...
Before I understood water law, I assumed buying land with irrigation history meant water access came with it. That assumption is wrong and expensive. Membership in a mutual ditch company is separate f...
I spent years assuming fence line responsibility was settled by whoever built the fence. Dead wrong. When we sold off a quarter section back in the late nineties, the buyer and I shook hands on what w...
Before I signed my current timber company lease, I spent months negotiating price per acre and access terms. What I completely failed to nail down in writing was spray buffer language. Two summers in,...
When I bought my twelve acres, I was so fixated on soil texture and sun exposure that I completely ignored the road maintenance agreement covering the half-mile caliche easement leading to my property...
I used to evaluate land purchases almost entirely on total acreage and price per acre. Made complete sense to me until I helped a friend walk a 180-acre parcel in the Missouri River hills that looked ...